iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

bjanish.bsky.social @bjanish.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Our little ones got names and jewelry today!

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Chicago Piping Plovers @chicagopiping.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

🐣🐣🐣🐣 The day we have waited for, worked for has come! All 4 chicks have hatched. Our work carries on as we continue to support Sea Rocket and Imani and their chicks. Thank you, as always, for your support. 📸: Chicago Piping Plovers (June 15, 2026, eggshell flown from nest)

Eggshell flown from nest by a parent plover to keep predators away

Text providing facts about piping plover chicks

Text providing guidance on supporting piping plover chicks as an ally

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bjanish.bsky.social @bjanish.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Remembering Monty Plover on his hatch day. RIP sweet prince. The impact of your life will be felt for generations (of plovers and humans) 🧡 💚 💜

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Phineas, a corpse @phineas.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

Just because no one bought even one from the last batch doesn't mean I stopped making art cards. Same deal: $40, 4x6 matted, US shipping included. Prices will not stay this cheap so act now. Operators are standing by in my DMs.

A 2.5"x3.5" drawing of a Piping Plover on a beach with water and sky in the distance. An orange and yellow banner curling along the bird's back reads 'PLOVING'. Done in acrylic markers and shown in a black mat.

A 2.5"x3.5" drawing of a cute brown bunny with tan paws standing on green hills under blue skies and also the bunny has knives for ears. Done in acrylic markers and shown in a black mat.

A 2.5"x3.5" drawing of a nice slice of blueberry pie that has one blue eye in the top crust. The word PYE is rendered in some fancy lettering at the top. Done in acrylic markers and shown in a black mat.

A 2.5"x3.5" drawing of a... um... ok, it's like an inflatable or water-filled thing? The part you can see (head?) is sort of tubular with a big set of horns and a little set of horns, and a three-fingered hand poking up from the bottom of the frame. Floating inside this shape is a human skull and three unconnected vertebrae. And there's a yellow halo floating over its head. I don't know either, ok? Done in acrylic markers and shown in a black mat.

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bjanish.bsky.social @bjanish.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Hey people who have seen #pipingplover eggs up close: which photo below is closest to the actual color? Warm or cool?

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Phineas, a corpse @phineas.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Celebrate the opening of Heron Season ⬛👑 👕: octophant.threadless.com/designs/blac... 🖼️: www.inprnt.com/gallery/phin... 🟦 👕: octophant.threadless.com/designs/grea... 🖼️: www.inprnt.com/gallery/phin...

A black-crowned night heron (a medium-sized bird with a whitish chest/belly, dark blue-black wing tops and crown, a black spearlike bill, red eyes, and proportionally long yellow legs with long toes, slightly webbed) standing on a stylized rock, with a green rushing river and blue sky behind. An actual bejeweled black crown is suspended over the bird's head and a golden beam of light is coming from within it down onto the regal heron. All this is within an elaborate frame rendered to look like patinated wrought iron. As part of the frame, arcing over the bird's head on either side of the crown it reads BLACK CROWNED, and below the birds feet are the words NIGHT HERON.

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Phineas, a corpse @phineas.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

it is Earth Day and also Plover Fever is heating up in Chicago so here are some Piping Plover things I have made

Oil painting of a male piping plover on a beach. A small, round bird with light brownish/grayish on top, a black brow line and neck ring, an orange beak with a black tip, and white undersides. It’s Monty, the legendary patriarch of Montrose Beach.

Photo of an oil painting in progress of two piping plovers on the beach. Monty on the right is walking left, and Rose and a plover chick are hunkered down in the sand. Beach grass and lake and waves are in the background.

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bjanish.bsky.social @bjanish.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

The boys are back and rarin’ to go! Chicago piping plover season has begun! 🧡🐦🐦🧡

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Leah McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 22/12/2025

This Victorian Christmas greeting card showing children staring at the dead body of a robin—typically a symbol of hope and good cheer—captures the 2025 holiday vibe:

Vintage holiday card with the caption “Loving Christmas Greetings” and showing a boy dressed in green and a girl dressed in red standing together in the snow holding an umbrella looking down at a dead red-bellied robin on the ground.

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Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

It was such a joy to celebrate Hanukkah with Mandy, Kathryn and their son, Gideon. As Jewish New Yorkers across our city prepare to light candles and mark the seventh night today, I wish you and your families a Hanukkah full of light and love. youtu.be/KIxAKyioXng

youtu.be

Happy Hanukkah

YouTube video by Zohran Mamdani for NYC

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unraveled @unraveledpress.com · 08/11/2025

As the Handmaid’s, and other protesters here, continue to stand in silence, sheriff’s deputies just advanced toward the “free speech” zone.

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Puff the Magic Hater @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · 08/11/2025

My latest is a love letter to Chicago. "I see you stumbling through the stubborn, awkward rhythm of showing up, again and again. I see you fighting alongside people who sometimes frustrate and confuse you, and defending neighbors you may have never met, because you know they’re all your people."

organizingmythoughts.org

In Chicago, We Run Toward Danger Together

"Faced with unrelenting state violence, Chicagoans have refused to be cowed," says Mariame Kaba.

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bjanish.bsky.social @bjanish.bsky.social · 26/10/2025

The theme for tonight’s Halloween party is “Nerd out!” so, well, yeah. 🧡🐦🧡🐦🧡🐦🧡

Orange tshirt with MONITOR Endangered Piping Plovers on the front. There are binoculars hanging in front and a hat with NJ PIPING PLOVER PROJECT embroidered on it.

Tan field vest with various piping plover pins and patches

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John Cusack @johncusack.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

No Kings

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Indivisible ❌👑 @indivisible.org · 18/10/2025

A Chicago-style No Kings Day. #NoKings

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Nicknamed “Honeybadger” for good reasons @httorg.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

Way to go, Chicago!!

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Chicago Piping Plovers @chicagopiping.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

We are loving this year's theme for Plover Appreciation Day, #ploverart. Your Chicago Piping Plover Monitor 🧡 Brenda Janish made these sweet treats for the monitor season-end bash. She had the mold made and decorated the cookies - perfection! 🤍

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Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 18/08/2025

Not to add to the discourse, but… It’s ‘toe the line,’ not ‘tow the line.’ It’s ‘free rein,’ and not ‘free reign.’ It’s ‘eke out,’ not ‘eek out.’ It’s ‘sleight of hand,’ not ‘slight of hand.’ It's ‘Anchors aweigh,’ and not ‘Anchor's away!’

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bjanish.bsky.social @bjanish.bsky.social · 16/08/2025

The last piping plover monitoring sesh of 2025 is in the books. We spent a quiet morning with El at 63rd street beach and pier where she took a nice bath and ate her weight in bugs on the pier. Good luck, little one. Hope to see you next year! 🧡

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bjanish.bsky.social @bjanish.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

This painting by @phineas.bsky.social is still available! The grandplover of Montrose Beach, Monty. 6"x6" oil on panel. octophant.us/paintings/mo...

octophant.us

Monty — Phineas X. Jones

6” x 6” Oil on Panel Price includes domestic US shipping.

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bjanish.bsky.social @bjanish.bsky.social · 03/08/2025

I added a simpler design for the new shirts, for those not into emo latin sayings 😉 teamplover.threadless.com

T-shirt with text "Piping Plovers, Est. 2019, Montrose Beach"

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bjanish.bsky.social @bjanish.bsky.social · 03/08/2025

The sad reality of monitoring… we observe but there’s not a lot we can do to protect. RIP little one, it was a delight knowing you. 💙

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bjanish.bsky.social @bjanish.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

New t-shirt dropped today! teamplover.threadless.com

young piping plover standing on a Chicago beach wearing a college-style t-shirt that says "Piping Plovers, Est. 2019, Montrose Beach"

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bjanish.bsky.social @bjanish.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

Our beautiful little charges have shiny new jewelry! Superstars, all 💙❤️💚

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Phineas, a corpse @phineas.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

It's time to get a resupply on the cat's diabeetus medication (don't tell him). This stuff is $150 a month, but I like having my cat around. Exchanges of currency for imagery are welcome and encouraged.

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Mark Jacob @markjacob.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

Here’s a New York Times photo of the Chicago “No Kings” rally. NYT said the march that followed spanned at least 10 blocks.

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WTTW - Chicago PBS @wttw.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

Chicago is ready for large-scale protests on Saturday against President Trump and his efforts to carry out mass deportations of undocumented people, Mayor Johnson said Wednesday. “I am counting on all of Chicago to resist in this moment." to.wttw.com/3ZuWcvo

to.wttw.com

Chicago Is Ready for Large Anti-ICE Protests, Johnson Says, Blasting Trump as a ‘Tyrant’

“I am counting on all of Chicago to resist in this moment,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “Whatever particular vulnerable group is being targeted today, another group will be next.”

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Phineas, a corpse @phineas.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

The weekend project was doing a real version of the Chicago-Style Pope. I hope we're all still excited about the pope. 🖼️ www.inprnt.com/gallery/phin... 👕 octophant.threadless.com/designs/da-p...

Chicago-Style Pope. A white man with a robust dark mustache wearing sunglasses along with the formal white and gold garb of the pope. The white cape has medallions on either lapel showing red 6-pointed stars as seen on the Chicago flag, and two sky blue bars wrap around the cape horizontally, also in reference to the flag. His belt/sash is also decorated with blue bars. The space inside his mitre is filled with oversized Chicago hot dog toppings (tomato, sport peppers, green relish, a pickle) and some yellow mustard is running down the front of the hat which also bears the Chicago municipal device, a Y in a circle, representing the Chicago River. In his left hand he’s holding a gold staff topped by a gilded Italian beef sandwich with a little halo and wings and he’s making a blessing gesture with his right hand. He's framed by a gothic arched window that contains a stained glass rendition of down Chicago looking past the top of the Sears Tower out toward the green lake and blue sky. At the bottom of all this is a red banner with large blackletter text that says 'Da • Pope' separated by a gold 6-pointed star, and below that in smaller blackletter text reads 'Chicago-style with Everything'.

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Phineas, a corpse @phineas.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

Did you want some more of yesterday's herons? No? Too late now.

On top of some rocks, looking left is a black crowned night heron. In a pool those rocks surround, with his head raised to the same height, is a great blue heron looking right, with roiling green river behind.

A black crowned night heron perched on a branch in a tree looking left surrounded by new leaves

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Phineas, a corpse @phineas.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

Some more Big Blue portraits from yesterday 🪶

portrait of a great blue heron, mostly head and neck held upright and looking left. The long, whispy chest feathers and head crest are blowing in the breeze. Rocks and river are the background.

close portrait of a great blue heron, neck upright and head angled down looking right. Long, wispy chest feathers are highlighted against shadowy water behind.

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Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Senator Cory Booker concludes his record-breaking Senate Floor speech after 25 hours Massive applause for Booker

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bjanish.bsky.social @bjanish.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

What (volunteer) gig will allow you to get in 12K steps at dawn AND give you the chance to hold a woodcock...? Volunteer with CBCM and be a bird hero! The birds traveling through one of the country's biggest migratory flyways need us!

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bjanish.bsky.social @bjanish.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

Join us this summer while we stare at the cutest birds in the world! Volunteer monitors needed!

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Phineas, a corpse @phineas.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

Here are some paintings I'm surprised have never sold octophant.us/paintings

Oil painting of a side view of a pigeon mid-takeoff, wings extended. The majority of the bird is grays but the light on its head brings out green iridescence. There are hard white outline around the whole bird separating it from the background which is a collage of text and a couple small images from a Japanese wrestling magazine.

An oil painting of sliced avocados on a plate seen from above, one sliced half still contains the pit. A knife sits by the side.

A Chicago-style hot dog seen from above on a tan background

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Victor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

www.aaup.org/news/cowardi...

The subjugation of universities to state power is a hallmark of autocracy. Columbia University’s immediate submission and betrayal of the core mission of higher education reflects cowardice and capitulation to a government that seems intent on destroying US higher education.

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The TRiiBE @thetriibe.com · 07/03/2025

During the hearing, Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX) alleged Chicago has a higher murder rate than the country of Haiti. He said he hopes Trump orders a “don’t go to Chicago” travel advisory. Mayor Johnson’s response? “They’re not dog whistling. They’re yelling it out loud.” thetriibe.com/2025/03/this...

thetriibe.com

‘This is absolutely a sham,’ Mayor Johnson plays into the performative sanctuary city hearing with pro-Chicago messaging • The TRiiBE

GOP goes 180 on states' rights during contentious questioning of sanctuary city mayors.

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John Skiles Skinner @skiles.blue · 01/03/2025

I got laid off today, with the rest of 18F. 18F was an elite federal software shop. We made gov't websites work better, more efficiently for the American people. We saved taxpayers from getting screwed over by contractors. And were fired for it. We made this website to tell our story: 18f.org

18f.org

We're not done yet | 18F

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David Frum @davidfrum.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

No, the meeting did not go badly for Ukraine. It exposed in the most undeniable, unequivocal way possible the pro-Putin commitments of the president and vice president. That was information Americans and allies needed to have clear before them.

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Amy @NYCC Artist Alley A-14 @amymebberson.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

Heads up for crafters: Great American LLC has won the bid for Joann. They’re a liquidator, so ALL Joann stores will be closed by end of May. Stock up on everything NOW and if you have an independent fabric store near you, start using it 😢

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Mo Ryan @moryan.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

Timeline cleanse: There is a very hefty beaver living and thriving on the Chicago River and I personally think that the city should name her Sigourney Beaver but my fellow citizens have come up with some other good suggestions 🦫💚 blockclubchicago.org/2025/02/18/a...

blockclubchicago.org

A 'Remarkably Rotund' Beaver Is Making A Splash On The South Side — And She Needs A Name

As beaver sightings become more common along the Chicago River, one particularly spherical and possibly pregnant beaver has captivated Chicagoans online.

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bjanish.bsky.social @bjanish.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

Long-tailed ducks are so petite! very pretty, I love their pale coloring

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Hyde Park Trish @pmorse.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

"Drawing on building blueprints, campus maps, academic literature, and other archival materials, the Maroon has charted the University’s property acquisitions from its charter in 1890 to the present day." Only worked correctly in my desktop browser. chicagomaroon.github.io/data-visuali...

chicagomaroon.github.io

Mapping the University of Chicago’s 135-Year Expansion into Hyde Park and Beyond

Drawing from University archives, campus maps, academic literature, and news clippings, the Maroon charted the University’s contentious property acquisitions from its charter in 1890 to the present.

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